Drought in Bandera, Texas

Most of South Central Texas received less than normal rainfall in March, but the drought only worsened in Kinney County which went from Moderate (D1) Drought to Severe (D2) Drought. Bandera and Kendall Counties remained in Extreme (D3) Drought and Blanco, Gillespie, Kerr, and Medina Counties remained in D2. Area reservoirs continued to be below normal conservation pool level. Medina Lake dropped 0.6 feet and was 91.0 feet below normal. The Edwards Aquifer dropped 2.0 feet and was 27.9 feet below normal. Most public water systems encouraged at least voluntary water restrictions and many had mandatory restrictions in effect. Some of the larger services had the following: Fredericksburg Stage 4 and Kerrville Stage 2. At the end of the month, the 7-day average streamflow was much below (<10%) normal on the Medina and upper Guadalupe Rivers. The Pedernales River was below (10%-24%) normal. Of the counties in D2 or worse drought Kerr, Kinney, and Medina had outdoor burn bans in effect at the end of the month.